††††Aerials first came into use when early wireless radio messages were sent by Guglielmo Marconi. They have two major purposes: to transmit and to receive radio signals. A transmitting aerial transforms electrical impulses into radio waves. In order to receive, an aerial must intercept radio waves and reconvert them into the original impulses.
Aerials have many uses, and are crucial to the operation of communication devices such as radar equipment, radio sets, televisions and cellular phones.
